Medical Amnesty & Good Samaritan Statement

Santa Clara University encourages students to offer help and assistance to other students in need, both on and off campus. Sometimes students are hesitant to offer assistance to other students for fear that they themselves may be charged with policy violations, or for fear of the student needing medical attention due to the student's level of alcohol intoxication or alcohol poisoning may receive judicial sanctions. An example would be an underage student who has been drinking might hesitate to seek help from Campus Safety, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or a Community Facilitator (CF) for someone who may be suffering from alcohol intoxication and/or alcohol poisoning.

Medical Amnesty is the reduction of judicial consequences for students who receive medical attention due to alcohol intoxication and/or alcohol poisoning. This statement applies to violations that occur on and off campus, and will require documentation by Campus Safety, EMS, law enforcement, and/or emergency personnel.

Good Samaritan is the elimination of judicial consequences for a student/students who may be under the influence of alcohol and who make(s) a good-faith call for medical help on the behalf of a fellow student. This statement applies to violations that occur on and off campus and will require documentation by Campus Safety, EMS, law enforcement, and/or emergency personnel. Good Samaritan is not limited to alcohol-related incidents, and encourages the witnesses of assault, vandalism, and other violations of the Student Conduct Code to also report such events.

Person in need of medical attention (Medical Amnesty)

If the student does not complete the educational sanction, which could include a one-on-one alcohol education program (BASICS), then the student will be in violation of the Student Conduct Code.

Medical Amnesty will only apply for a student's first alcohol policy violation that requires medical attention, regardless of how the response was initiated.

Medical Amnesty does not apply to other violations of the Student Conduct Code.

Calling on behalf of someone else (Good Samaritan)

Good Samaritan may apply to up to two people who are calling for assistance and/or providing support or assistance to the student requiring medical attention. The Good Samaritans(s) will need to be present when help arrives and will be required to provide his/her/their contact information to the responding agency (i.e., Campus Safety, EMS, law enforcement, and/or emergency personnel) to be included with their incident report. The Good Samaritan(s) will not face judicial consequences, as long as no other violations of the Student Conduct Code have occurred.

This Medical Amnesty/Good Samaritan statement only applies to the University response to a student who receives medical attention due to alcohol intoxication and/or alcohol poisoning. Any student who abuses Medical Amnesty or Good Samaritan will be subject to disciplinary action for interfering with the orderly functioning of the University. Criminal investigations and other police action may still occur at the discretion of the responding law enforcement agency. In some cases Campus Safety may be bound to report certain possible criminal details to the local law enforcement agencies.